Hey, YA Readers!
I hope your Monday is off to a good start as we enter the week of all things love. I know folks have conflicted feelings on Valentine’s Day, but I enjoy it a lot and always emphasize every year that this holiday is not only historical—it’s been commercialized, of course, but it’s not a Hallmark* invention—but like Halloween, you can enjoy it whatever way you want to. Go on a date with a partner! Take your best friends out for coffee! Grab a book and take a bath with some chocolate hearts! It’s about love and warmth, so let yourself enjoy it.
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This week, let’s love on all things books, if nothing else. Onward into the new releases—and it’s a mega roundup!
*My first job as a teenager was at Hallmark, and my favorite little thing about that job was memorizing where any kind of card was located. You want a “Thanks for being an amazing bus driver” card? I could find you several.
Bookish Goods
Young Adult Reader Sticker by SprinklesStudios
You’re here because you care about and enjoy young adult books. Now share that love on your water bottle, planner, or physical TBR notebook with this sticker. $4.
New Releases
We’re being blessed with abundance in new releases this time of the year. Below are two hardcovers hitting shelves this week. You can grab the entire list right here.
Black Girl You Are Atlas by Renée Watson, Ekua Holmes (Illustrated by)
Renée Watson is back, and this time, she’s written a collection of poetry that is semi-autobiographical. It explores coming of age as a Black girl at the intersections of race, class, and gender. The poetry includes all kinds of formats and is not only Watson’s story but a call for Black girls today to take the time to know themselves, love themselves, and champion themselves.
This Is How You Fall In Love by Anika Hussain
Zara is a fan of all things love and hopes for her own swoony romance. Adnan has been her best friend since childhood, and while everyone has told them they are the perfect couple, Zara knows they’re meant to be friends.
That is until Adnan asks Zara to do him a huge favor: pretend to be his girlfriend so he can cover up his real secret relationship. Zara is on board, but those fake feelings might start to get a little bit too real and, worse, get confusing when a new boy enters her life. Who does she choose? Does she get to choose at all?
For a more comprehensive list of new releases, check out our New Books newsletter.
A Graphic Novel Extravaganza
This week is one of the biggest weeks for new YA graphic novels/comics in a while. I do not remember the last time so many were released on the same day, and I don’t want to not highlight them.
Dive into some new comics with these releases, which truly do have something for every kind of reader.
Bunt! by Ngozi Ukazu, illustrated by Mad Rupert
Molly Bauer is off to college, but it is starting out to be a disaster. All of the money she was promised in the form of financial aid disappeared. But she’s scoured the papers and policies of her school and discovered something: if she and nine other art students can win one game of softball, they’ll all be able to enjoy a full athletic scholarship.
Of course, they’re going for it! Who cares if they don’t know a thing about the sport?
Call Me Iggy by Jorge Aguirre, illustrated by Rafael Rosado
Iggy is an Ohio-born Colombian American. Once he bumps into Marisol, he becomes quickly infatuated. Marisol, however, is way too busy with her own life—including getting her legal papers—to engage. Iggy is desperate to catch her attention, and then he is quickly approached by his abuelo with suggestions.
The problem? His abuelo is dead and also gives terrible advice.
The Fox Maidens by Robin Ha
Kai Song wants to follow in the footsteps of her father and become a warrior. The problem is she’s a girl, and society isn’t keen on female warriors.
She’s also been subject of rumors that she is the granddaughter of Gumiho, the legendary nine-tail fox that her father killed.
When Kai finds out a huge secret about her mother’s past, Kai finds herself unraveling, worried that everything she thought she knew about herself, her history, and her family are all untruths.
Freshman Year by Sarah Mai
I would have eaten this book up as a high schooler and have, in my adulthood, read several comics that cover this terrain: moving away to college.
This is Sarah’s graphic memoir of leaving her home in Wisconsin to attend college in Minnesota. It’s about all of the expectations and anticipation she has and what happens when those things butt against the realities of what college life is actually like.
King Cheer by Molly Horton Booth, Stephanie Kate Strohm, Jamie Green
This is the second comic in a series that brings a fresh twist to Shakespeare. In King Cheer, we get a queer twist on King Lear (one of my fav Shakespeare plays!).
Leah is the cheerleading captain but decides to call it quits just before graduation. She is struggling with a lot of things, including her identity, with being waitlisted at her dream college, and more.
A pair of twins have now stepped in to replace Leah as co-captains and the situation for the team is not good. They’ve put the cheer squad in such a position that now, they’re fighting the basketball team.
One person can solve the problem. But for Leah, that first requires untangling her own.
Thanks as always for hanging out, and know I am so glad we get to talk books as much as we do.
I’ll see you later this week for (spoiler) MORE BOOK TALK.
Until then, happy reading!
–Kelly Jensen, listening to Once In a Millennial by Kate Kennedy